Ho, ho, ho, and all that holiday whatever. It’s snowy in NY and 29 Farentheit, unlike Nola, where it’s a cloudy 20 Celcius. Although I am a natural devil’s advocate, who springs into optimism when confronted with waves of doubt, and a cynic when everyone else is on cloud nine (where does that saying come from anyway, what is “cloud nine”?), the internet has fallen silent like it was the night before Xmas, so I’ll just reflect on a Black Friday Redux abbreviated and not-really-at-all-daily version of our S#*t List here and now:
- “REVENGE”: the dumbest question slash lazy media phrase of the week. Did the Hornets get “revenge” this week on the Spurs for last year’s Game 7 loss? We quickly all said no. Stupid question, move on. Nonetheless several media outlets have dubbed the Lakers’ beating of the Celts as “revenge” for their loss in the NBA finals. Listen. Do you people know what the word revenge means? If the Lakers beat the Celts 20 times this season, the Celts would laugh after every loss and wear their rings to the post-game show. Got it? No victory, or set of victories, short of beating the Celts in the Finals will be revenge. Same for the Hornets. If we knock the Spurs out of the Playoffs this year, on the road, in Game 7. Now that’s revenge. Use a dictionary people.
- LEBRON’S CHALK: let me say for the 587th time, you stole it from Kevin Garnett. So it’s not yours. Why not pretend you invented dunks too? Oh, and thanks for that commercial that airs every twenty seconds. Only the sweet bass funk running through that ad spares it from the wrath of the almighty. [EDIT: as I went to save this post and get more coffee before coming back to finish, that stupid music was running through my head, Damn you Lebron!) But even all that’s not enough to get the chalk on this list. Nope. Someone would have to, say, hand out white confetti to everyone in attendance at the game you premiere your new Nike shoe (“Chalk”, I kid not), and have them all throw it down pre-game while you throw up your chalk. Oh wait, you did that yesterday? What a whore. Let me say it again. Lebron is a whore. I don’t care if his team went nuts in the last minute to win that game. It was the Wizards. Even Mike James looks good on that team. The other James’ focus should have been on his team. On the rings. Not his self. Not his Nike promotions. Call me old-fashioned.
- PANICKY FANS: yes, I love you all my fellow Hornets’ fans. But calm the fuck down. We’re barely a quarter of the way through the season. We’re injured. How many of our games have we been missing a starter or two? A lot. Of course these guys are off rhythm. We made the move that shored up our second unit in Daniels, only now he’s out. I still say our starting five (when healthy) is one of the best in the League. Posey? One of the best sixth men in the League. And that still leaves Butler and Wright, two very talented guys on both ends of the floor. There’s a reason that Lakers and Spurs fans don’t usually demand trades quite as often as fans like us. They know it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We just have to keep working and gelling and making everything click. Because we’ve seen what this team can do against good teams, not just losers. While Pargo and Wells brought their own kind of special to this team last year, I refuse to believe that the difference between us last year and this is them, and that we’re worse now. Bower’s assembled a talented team, and when all healthy, I think they can beat any team in the League. So relax, folks, it’s a long season.
- DESTINY: okay, I picked up this a little early because Bob Costas had his annual football meltdown over this last weekend, but I know TT6 hates it too. So let me preemptively explain: no team controls its own destiny. It’s out of your hands. It is forewritten. That’s why it’s called Destiny. For example, last year, it was Destiny that Lakers-Celtics ended up in the Finals. Neither team chose that Destiny, neither team “controlled” their assent into the big Games. Stern Destiny chose them. If the teams could control it, whatever that “it” was, it wouldn’t be Destiny.
- HOOPS ADDICT: who asked, is Lebron unguardable? Please. Maybe someone should watch the tapes of every Cleveland loss. Take, for instance, I don’t know, his game against the Hornets. It’s called James Posey. I’ll tell you what, it might even be called Rasual Butler. For short periods, I’d even be willing to have Ju-Ju on him. Lebron is not unguardable, he is just unguardable by certain players. Kobe, with Posey in his grill, hitting shot after shot the other night, was unguardable. Chris Paul, weaving through four defenders in and out and back into the paint again only to turn on a dime and drop in a teardrop over the outstretched arms of a seven footer is unstoppable. Those guys can only be stopped if they stop themselves. Lebron? Guardable.
- BYRON SCOTT: deservedly, was Coach of the Year last year. But like Coach Scott no doubt repeatedly tells his players: it’s not last year. I love Coach Scott. I think is offense works for our personnel, when healthy. But he has to recognize that Brown is not Stojakovic. One cannot do the same things as the other. At this point, why not start Butler and Peterson at the 3 and 2? Because then the second unit is too thin? Well, how about Julian? Start him at 3. I mean, isn’t that ultimately what we drafted him to do? To be the guy when Peja starts to slow down (or gets injured)? Oh, Byron says he doesn’t know his position spacing on the floor. Really? Why would that be? Because Byron’s tried him at the 1, 2, 3, and 4. I saw him play three of those (1, 2, 4) just last game (and interestingly, not the one position that is his “natural” position). Coach. I love you. But play Wright. Play Peterson. USE YOUR BEST PLAYERS. Great that Bowen, Ely, and Brown are loyal guys, but they just aren’t as talented. Birdman, for example, violated your trust, and he was banished. Look how that one worked out. We complain of not having reliable back-up bigs and he’s having a nice year in Denver (add to it he would have came cheap). Any way, certain guys, work ethic and loyalty aside, should be used sparingly, in support roles. Butler’s earned his minutes this year. Fine. Hilton is finally being given a chance to make it or break it on his own; he’s not looking over his shoulder and worrying if he’s going to get yanked after every dumb play. Good. He’s done both good and bad, but he’s progressing because he has the time to learn on the floor. That’s the opportunity Julian should have. Give him his minutes. Get him into the game. It’s the only way he’s going to learn. Additionally, while we have all secretly hoped that Marks would be DX-lite, he’s not; and Byron has finally seemed to grasp this. I do believe in you Byron, I really do. But even you might have to prove the least bit flexible to make that push for the Rings. Sigh.
But all said, Hornets’ fans, there is something to be happy about. Despite our high expectations for this season, and despite what some call “struggles”, at least we’re not the Wizards. Now that is a last-year-playoff-contender this-year-a-really-really-really-struggling team. So it could always be worse. Besides, some teams come late to the party and make long runs through the Playoffs. Not to mention, that we still are poised to end up as a 2-5 seed without making a massive surge foward. I believe.
Geaux Hornets!
Argumentative
LBJ (and KG I guess) actually took it from Jordan. MJ used to do it, except without all the flashy hand motion stuff.
I’m a little hazy on the shoe game, but I think the “Chalk” is actually just the LeBron VI with a silhouette of his ‘chalk’ thing on it. Everything that kid does is impeccably marketing, which is what I don’t like him. Can you say ‘fake’? And I’m actually with Kobe Bryant with this statement, but nobody is unguardable, even Bryant. If somebody’s on fire, F that! Cool his ass down. I’m personally a HUGE defensive player on court, so I usually take responsibility of stopping the best player against us. It’s rather reminiscent of shot blockers. It’s not about how many blocks you get at the end of the game, but how many shots you perturb.
The only thing that’s been really horrible this year for us has been the expectation. Admittedly, I had championship dreams, but realistically the Lakers and Green look to be the teams to beat. Still, the effort isn’t there for many games, and we have lost some games we had to win (namely Charlotte and Sac-Town). Just gotta keep pressing forward and play hard. It’s all the fans ask for, really.
Off topic, why is Chris Paul BEHIND Tracy McGrady in the all*star voting? I swear the Chinese would vote Wang Zhi-Zhi back from China into the league if they could.
Not panicking. Not panicking.
Good post (as per usual with you guys). Totally agree on the panicky fan thing. Part of the reason I love basketball (more than say, football) is that you have time to learn and gel as a team. The length of the season being what it is allows for trial and error without the worry of eliminating yourself from the playoff picture.
On the other hand, though, I think LeBron is as unguardable as CP and Kobe. It’s just a matter of what night you catch him. We’ve played well against those guys this year (even though we’re 1-3 against the newly minted “Big 3″ of teams… damn analysts), but no one has really “erupted” for a gajillion points against us or yet. We’ve been able to (for the most part) effectively guard some of the best players in the league.
Oh, and I’m gonna kill Lil Wayne if I see him at a game. First the guy’s a Laker fan, then he claims his undying affection for CP, now he’s a guest on the endlessly looped chalk commerical. Unbelievable. I think that part makes me more annoyed than the chalk part. And the funniest part (there’s a funny part?) is that I’d probably just say, “Hey that’s a pretty cool commercial” if they aired it less. But no, now I’ve seen it a thousand times and I’m ranting about it in a blog comment.
I need a cookie.